Having been called to their dry storage base, the reservists of the 320th armored brigade were able to prepare their unique tanks for combat and deploy to the Southern Negev within 24 hours.
The brigade was ordered to advance into Sinai, capture high grounds and prepare for an incoming Egyptian armored force. The battalion was ordered to capture a ridge of small hills dominating an intersection in the desert. The battalion was allocated air support by MD-500 attack helicopters, as well as F-4 Phantoms.
Arriving to ridge around the time the Egyptians were expected, and the companies arranged behind the cover of hills. A company and D company were planned to attack the north of the bridge and move south towards the intersection to its west. B company was ordered to take good positions to cover this advance. C company was to attack the south of the ridge and use them to support the advance of A and D companies once they cross the ridge line.
Turn 0:Here A company and D company are prepared to begin their move, hidden behind a small hill:
Turn 1:B company moves to take overwatch positions, with the two attack helicopters flying overhead:
Turn 2: During this movement tank J1 from B company was immobilized by soft sand:
This was an ominous sign for the tankers of the battalion, loosing a tank before combat has even started. Non the less they rolled on, B company taking over watch positions and the two helicopters approaching the ridge line. First contact was reached in turn 3, with an MD-500 spotting enemy tanks moving towards the center of the ridge line.
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Fearful that the Egyptians may take the ridge line positions while his battalion is on the move, the Israeli CO ordered the helicopters to start engaging enemy tanks, and called in a single airstrike.
General plan on turn 4: A company will continue its attack on the ridge line with 2 platoons. 1st platoon of A company will lead D company adn its APCs to move to the north of the ridge under cover of the terrain, and than attack south. B company will remain in over watto the south of the ridge with 2 platoons:
The MD-500s managed to hit 2 tanks with their TOW missiles, but non the less by turn 4 the enemy managed to take positions on the northern objective. The Israeli tankers were appalled to see the silhouettes of American made M60A1 tanks.
This was however expected by the commanders of A and D companies, and D company APCs were still far enough to be safe while their accompanying Tiran 6 tanks from A company/1st platoon quickly did away with the first M60. The other one was quickly killed by TOW missile from an MD-500. The threat to the soft APCs was removed for now.
At turn 6 the planned airstrike was commited by a single F-4. The aircraft missed with its Mavrick A missile and than went in for a strafing run, resulting in it being shot down by Strela SAMs(4 hits). From that point on the Israelis were weary of calling in air support, although they later did, with the unfortunate result of another lost Phantom.
Although shocked by the loss of the F-4, the Israeli commander was pleased as A company took positions in the center of the ridge.
He decided that B company may now leave its over watch positions and move forward. This will allow the quicker use of B company in case its needed. Shortly after, The Mech Inf company D and its attached tank platoon bypassed the hills to the north, safe from enemy fire, and prepared to move south on the back of the ridge to attack the enemy from his left flank.
However when the tanks arrived at the western slope of the hills they identified an Egyptian Motorised company with escorting MBTs and Pt-76s. To avoid casualties to the soft APCs and also to prevent a prolonged fight with the Egyptian infantry, D company was ordered to halt while her accompanying tanks engaged this force.
The exposure of this force in open ground proved fatal for the Egyptian force, which lost nearly this entire force. In only 2 turns he lost 7-10 vehicles, including a few tanks as can be seen here:
However not all new were good for the Israelis. Egyptian tanks were reaching the ridge line again, and although they took casualties they posed a serious threat to the Israelis. D company was stuck in the northern part of the ridge, several of its APCs knocked out or immobilized by fierce mortar and howitzer artillery barrages. To make things worse, several AT-3 sections started opening fire on C company as it took positions on the ridge, and it lost 2 tanks, including the CO. These were the first but not the last casualties in the battle.
However by turn 22 the entire ridge was in Israeli hands, and at least 10 more Egyptian tanks were knocked out, including several T-62s in a confusing battle at ranges of 100-300 meters. At this point another group of Egyptian tanks made its way towards the intersection. The Israelis prepared to engage and non this tanks made it to the objectives.
Satisfied that the threat from enemy armor is reduced and that the battle can be won only by decisive action, the Israeli CO used B company that passed between A and D companies, crossed the ridge and attacked from north to south(as was originally planned for D company), with A company providing over watch.
This move by B company was met by Egyptian Mech Infantry, that was now filling the entire area around the intersection and near the objectives. By turn 26 A company had to move to stop this infantry from retaking the central objective, and B company dispatched a platoon west to take the secondary objectives. C company was pressuring the south of the enemy, where brave but futile resistance was presented by RPG volleys from Egyptian Infantry.
In a last ditch attack a company sized Egyptian mech inf force, in size roughly a company, attack the center of the ridge. Company had to fall back to the rear slopes and engage the enemy troops as the came into view.
The 115 HE rounds proved well suited for destroying the enemy infantry, and this assault was smitten by turn 30. With this the battle was all but won, both sides taking heavy casualties.
The result was a marginal victory for the Israelis, who indeed destroyed the Egyptian force in it's entirety and captured the ridge, but 7 Tiran tanks out of 33, 2 APCs, and 59 men(as well as 2 aircraft). The Egyptians lost 37 AFVs(of which roughly 22-25 were tanks) and 25 APCs, as well as 558 men.
Following this battle the battalion had very little time to rest and refit before preparing to delay against a large Egyptian force. As there were no tanks to replace those lost, the situation was extremely difficult.
To be continued.